Halo: Noble Six
by Freedomhunter96
Summary: What if Noble Six didn't die on reach, instead he left with the Pillar of Autumn. Fighting on in the memory of Noble Team, he joins with Spartan-117, to discover the purpose of the object called Halo. This is for the fate of mankind, and he'll do whatever it takes to make sure that they all live to see the future.
1. Halo: Noble Six

***This is my own attempt at a what-if fanfiction. What if Noble Six did leave with Keyes and got on the Pillar of Autumn, and how much could he and Master Chief do together. This Intro may be relatively short, but if people like the idea, I'll move forward with doing the Halo: Combat Evolved story. Hope you like it.***

Noble Six sat in the hanger of the UNSC ship Pillar of Autumn, taking in everything that had happened. Spartan rarely show emotion, and sometimes don't even feel. There are times though, rarely, where something comes through, and hits them hard. Six was having one of those moments.

He thought he would have to die, but Emile saved them all. Blasting the Covenant ship in the center, and allowing them to go.

As the Pillar of Autumn flew into space, the last time he saw each one of his team members flashed into his mind.

Noble Five, Jorge, handing him his dog tags, and carrying him out the Covenant Corvette. Telling him his last words. "To make it count."

Noble Four, Emile, handling two Elites on the cannon, Six watching below. Shooting one with his shotgun, and just barely dodging another behind him. Stabbing it with his kukri knife. He holstered it, removed it and with his might, tossed it to Six. Telling him to fight on, and get moving.

Noble Three, Jun, seeing them off at the dig site, escorting Dr. Halsey off planet. Some time ago on a stealth mission, he gave Six a magazine of sniper rounds, high powered ones, telling him they weren't cheap. Six kept them with him in case of a tough situation, and if he had a good sniper rifle.

Noble Two, Kat, running with him off an elevator as the Covenant decimated it. She had never seen a glassing before, she told him. As they exited, she didn't even get to finish what she was saying as a sniper hit her through the head. Six took her pistol to shoot back, and dragged her off. He kept it with him since then.

Noble One, Carter, his team leader, injured and flying a Pelican. Telling him and Emile to get off while he distracted the Covenant. He held them off for quite some time, eventually saving them by crashing into a Scarab. Six wasn't sure why, but Carter, before they jumped gave him his Tactical/Tacpad he kept mounted on his left wrist.

Noble Six had something to remember each Spartan comrade by. He was all that was left, and now he had finally left Reach. Delivering the A.I. to the Pillar of Autumn, and the Captain took him aboard.

Six took the mounted Tacpad and put it on his left wrist, put the kukri knife where his normal knife was, putting his old knife on the back of his waist, Kat's pistol on the leg holder on his armor, found an ammo holder and put the four sniper rounds in them, fixing it to his right shoulder. He picked up his M392 DMR and mounted it to his back.

A voice came over the loudspeaker, it being the Captain, Keyes. He rushed off to the bridge to get ready for launch, taking priority of the time they had.

"Noble Six report to the bridge." Keyes announced.

Six started walking, looking for someone who could guide him. He didn't quite know the layout of a Halcyon-class cruiser. Finding a crewmen, he got his attention.

"I need to get to the bridge." He asked plainly.

The crewmen was a bit surprised, but obliged. "Of course sir, this way."

After going up a lift and then a lot of walking, Six finally arrived at the bridge standing in the middle in his white uniform was Captain Keyes. Six approached him.

"Captain." Six addressed.

Keyes turned to look at him. "Good to see you Noble Six." He greeted the Spartan. "I'm going to have to make this quick. It'll be some time to our destination. In the meantime I want you to go into cryostasis, everyone else on the ship will as well."

"Where exactly are we going sir?" Six asked.

"I think you should wait and see." A female voice said, then on a stand nearby formed an A.I.. "Good to see you again Lieutenant."

The A.I. took the form Her chosen avatar is a nude female human, roughly in her early twenties. She appeared to have blue skin, shoulder length blue hair cut shorter at the back, and blue symbols scrolling down her body, taking away all the details of her body.

Six just looked over to her, the A.I. seeming familiar to him.

"This is Cortana, our ship's A.I. You helped bring her here." Keyes explained.

Six turned his head down a bit. "Not just me sir." Repeating what he said when they first met. Something clicked in his mind again, was he feeling sad over the loss of his team? He had been one of ONI's biggest secrets, and seemed voided of all emotions. Could being with Noble Team have changed him somehow?

"You did them proud. Noble Team will be remembered for what they for Humanity." Keyes said to the Spartan, trying to ease his mind.

Six tried to keep focused. "Where should I go sir?"

"There's a cryopod waiting for you not far from here. I'll have one of my crew bring you there." Keyes explained.

"You won't be sleeping alone. We have another Spartan on board. He's already sleeping through." Cortana added.

"Another Spartan got off Reach?" Six asked, curious.

"He is from the Spartan II program. Spartan 117, rank of Master Chief." Cortana explains.

A Spartan II, just like Jorge. Whatever the case, having another Spartan on board somehow made Six feel less alone.

"I'll head there now." Six said.

Keyes waved for one of his crew to guide him, and then he headed off.

"Strange, we have the two most dangerous Spartan on our ship." Cortana stated.

Keyes looked over to her.

"Both are registered as Hyper-Lethal. The only two there is. We might just survive this." She added, slight sarcasm in the last sentence.

Six was taken to a large empty room with a column in the middle. A few cryopods lay around it.

"Your armor will be fine, but I'll need to take your weapons, the cryo could damage them." The crewman explained.

He handed him his DMR, but hesitated on the pistol. "I'll leave the pistol by the pod."

"That's fine I guess." The crewmen replied, and then left.

Two crewmen were visible on a platform above, separated by a thick glass window. The second pod facing them opened up, and not wanting to waste time, Noble Six entered.

He looked over briefly to the other pod. The Spartan was wearing a MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark V version. It had a distinct olive green color and gold visor. While technically the same armor as what Noble Six wore, the helmet that this one was wearing was an upgraded version of the Mark IV helmet. Six also couldn't place why it looked a bit different to his eyes.

With that, he layed in the pod. It closed, and he slowly fell asleep.

***I imagined Noble Six wearing the basic armor set from Halo: Reach, the standard Mark V [B] suit and helmet with steel color palette. That last line with the "different look" was my own attempt at a joke at how Master Chief's armor looked different in the Anniversary edition, cause of the different game engine. Anyway, I hope to explore Noble Six delving back into his humanity, since Spartan's are far removed emotion wise. And having something from each of Noble Team, would have him constantly thinking of if he was doing their memory right. We'll see how it goes. I hope you like this, and again I apologize if this chapter seems really short. The next one will definitely be much longer.***


	2. The Pillar of Autumn

**Chapter 1 (Technically). This will cover the whole first level of the game, with my own touches of course. Hope you like it.**

Noble Six slowly woke up, his senses coming back to him. He looked out to see the two operators on the upper level looking down to him.

"Sir, can you hear us? We're almost out of slipspace. Captain wanted you awake." One of them quickly explained, talking with the PA in the room, as they were separated by thick glass.

Six's pod door opened up. After about a minute of regaining his facilities, he got up and stepped out it. He looked around and saw the other Spartan still in stasis.

"Why's he still asleep?" Noble Six looked up and asked.

"Captain wants to wait till he can assess the situation. We're not sure what we're coming out to." One answered.

Six looked over to him again. "What could we be getting into?" He thought to himself.

"You two operate this area by yourselves?" Six asked, wondering why there were only two people here.

"Were keeping an eye on everyone is stasis, they're all waking up as well. But the Captain wanted you two here in case of emergency. I'm Tech Chief Thom Shephard, I run this section of the ship." One answered him, not looking from the panel he was at.

"I'm Tech Officer Sam Marcus. Just sit tight sir." The other added.

Six stood against the wall underneath them. His mind wandered a bit, the time he was asleep, he thought he was dreaming, but of what he wasn't sure. At first he thought it was old memories, but he had forgotten almost all of his early memories before becoming a Spartan. Six wasn't sure what to think. Staying focused didn't seem easy at the moment. Especially since all he could do at this point was sit and wait.

Six could hear the hum of the ship, he could tell by now that they had exited slipspace. Many different scenarios ran through his head of what could happen now.

The A.I., Cortana, was needed for something important. To be on this ship, for the Captain. Being at an ancient site, uncovering something. She needed to be brought somewhere, to find something out in space. Why else would the Captain know that Halsey sent him, it was for something extremely important, which Six figured out as soon as he saw her the last time.

They find this thing, and bring it to whoever, without any casualties. This turned out to be all for nothing, which seemed extremely unlikely. Or, the Covenant will already be here, and they will be outnumbered.

All the waiting, and eventually, something came of it. Alarms started going off throughout the entire ship. They were preparing for battle.

Six walked over and grabbed the pistol he set by the pod, examining it. Still having eight rounds in it, he was ready in case of an emergency, putting it to his legs magnetic weapon holder.

Over the ships PA, Cortana could be heard.

"Attention, all combat personnel: Please report to your action stations." She announced. "5th Platoon, secure airlocks on Deck 11. 14th Platoon, rendezvous with 22nd Tactical at bulkhead Charlie 14."

"So it begins." Six thought to himself, knowing he was ready for whatever came his way.

"This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill." Cortana repeated.

Six walked forward a bit, and looked back up to the crewmen, still at the panel.

"Attention, all personnel: We are re-engaging the enemy. Internal and external contact imminent." Cortana continued.

A few moments passed, and then, steam began pouring out of the other Spartan's Cryo Chamber.

It couldn't have been another moment before Shephard came running through one of the doors, going up to the pod.

"His tube shows green. Cycle complete." Marcus said over the PA, looking over the Spartan's vitals.

Six kept his distance to give the Spartan some space. Waking up suddenly from cryo could be a disorienting experience, even for Spartans.

The tube cover opened up, and Shepard saluted. "Sorry for the quick thaw, Master Chief. Things are a little hectic right now. The disorientation should pass quickly."

"Welcome back, sir. We'll have you battle ready stat." Marcus waved to him from above.

"Chief, please look around the room. I need to get a calibration reading for your battle suit's diagnostics." Shepard asked.

Six figured the Spartan, who they called Master Chief, was getting his bearings.

Spartans of course did have ranks, his being Lieutenant, but not many held that rank. Six tried remembering where he had heard it before.

"Good. Thank you sir." Shepard said.

"I'm bringing your health monitors online, sir." Marcus said to him.

Six saw his armor was a bit different, he wondered if the heads-up display was different as well.

"Vital signs look normal. No freezer burn. Okay sir, go ahead and climb out of the cryo tube." Shepard asked, the Spartan finally seeming awake.

And so, the Spartan got up, and walked out of the pod. He looked over to Six briefly. Six could figure he was a bit curious about him.

"I gave you a double dose of the wake-up stim. Take a quick walk around the cryo bay and join me at the optical diagnostics station when you're ready." Shepard explained, and walked over to a different station.

The Spartan followed him, standing on the red square in the floor. Six remembered this procedure, it was to see if the armors visor lookout worked properly with what the user saw.

"I know the ordnance techs usually take care of your targeting sensors, but we're short of time, Chief. Just look at each of the flashing panels to target them. When you lock on, it'll change color." Shepard asked, he seemed to be rushing a bit as he spoke.

Green lights lit up on the ends of a plus shaped device. The Chief looked at them a few different ways, finishing. The tech crew had him redo it by changing the pitch of his settings. Seeming done, they moved on to the next faze.

"I'm ready for the energy shield test now." Marcus stated.

Six continues to watch, waiting to finish. Cortana still calling out over the PA, giving various orders.

The Chief stood on a yellow square, above was a mechanism made to spin around him, Six knew it was to test the shields strength. The static charge of his armors shields moving around him to show they were active. The spinner moved around the Chief, and after a few seconds, it sent a shock out to lower the shields, it didn't take them long to get back to full strength though.

"Recharging normal. Showing green across the board." Marcus confirmed.

"Bridge to Cryo Two, this is Captain Keyes. Send the Master Chief and Noble Six to the bridge immediately." Captain Keyes called out over the PA. Shepard looked up to the ceiling, mostly near the station Marcus was at.

"Captain, we'll have to skip the weapons diagnostics and I-" "On the double, crewman." Keyes stopped Shepard from finishing, clearly in a hurry.

"Aye aye, sir." Shepard agreed, turning back to the Chief. "The skipper seems jumpy, we'd better get moving. We'll find you weapons later."

"Okay. I'll leave the self-diagnostics running, at least." Marcus said.

Six walked forward to the Chief, it seemed like they were getting into the fight soon enough.

"Good idea. You'd better get to your evac group, Sam!" Shepard called out, looking to him again.

"Affirmative. Just have to reset the computer and I'm outta here!" Marcus explained, seeming to be working faster.

Banging was heard on one of the observation chamber doors. An alarm activated and flashed red.

"Oh God! They're trying to get through the door!" Marcus cried. The door blew broken open and an Elite Major entered, firing on Marcus. "Security! Intruders in Cryo Two! No, please don't" he said desperately, but he was hit by the plasma bolts and fell to the floor, crying in pain.

The Spartans could only look on, unable to save the man.

The Elite turned around and tried to shoot at them from above, but couldn't get through the glass, so the it ran off.

"Sam! Sam!" Shepard called in a panic. He turned to look at the Spartans. "C'mon, we've got to get the hell out of here!" He ran to one of the doors, it opening up. "This way!"

Both Spartans followed, exiting as well.

They followed the Shepard to the end of the corridor, getting to a door, the alarms still going, as well as Cortana's announcements.

Shepard tried opening the door, but as soon as it opened, an explosion came out of it, engulfing him and killing him instantly. The Spartans didn't have time to react.

Six looked over to his right and noticed another hallway, some large metal pipes across the floor in front of the path.

"Over here." Six called to the Chief.

Six jumped over them with the Chief right behind him. The hallway had a door to their left that still seemed to work. Fire coming from panels all around and another dead crewmen nearby, they dashed through as the door opened, focusing on getting to the bridge.

They ran forward to the next door, but as soon as they approached it, another explosion came from the wall. It stopped them for a second, but they moved forward.

They came out to see a large blast door half closed to their right, a panel holding the bottom part of the door down. They crouched down and got through to see two crewmen with pistols firing at some Elites down the right side of the hall. One threw a plasma grenade, killing both. The blast doors began closing on them however, preventing the Elites from getting them.

Two more crewmen came running down the left side of the hall, blast doors closing down there as well.

Down the hall by an overturned barricade was another door, what seemed to be the only other way out. Both Spartans ran to it, the hall's lights seeming to be out. It wasn't long though, reaching the next door. To their surprise, as it opened an Elite stood there, roaring at them.

Six reflexively punched the thing, stunning it. Two soldiers on the right began firing at it, making it retreat down the hall.

"Chief, Cortana says get to the bridge, double time!" One of the Marines said. Both continued past the soldiers down the hall.

Taking a left they came to a small barricade that had been set up. Two crewmen and a soldier firing at the Covenant. The Spartans walked to the other side of the hall, a room behind where the soldier stood.

The Spartans ran to where the soldier stood, avoiding some plasma fire that went by.

The soldier stopped firing to look at them. "Sir's! The Captain needs you on the bridge, ASAP! You better follow me."

In a hurry they followed behind him. Passing through the armory of the ship, the racks were completely empty of weapons, and blockades littered the other side of the room. Further in, they saw many injured marines laying on the ground, some in better condition than others. Just from a quick glance Six could tell some of them were already dead.

Six felt bad for them all. Risking their lives like this and it seeming like another unwinnable battle, it felt like Reach all over. In the back of his mind, he didn't want that to happen again.

As they exited the armory, another fight was going on, but just one crew member trying to hold them off. The blast doors began closing, but before they did, one of the Covenant troops threw a plasma grenade.

"Get clear!" The soldier called out.

The grenade went off, and while the Spartans and Soldier were fine, the crewmen was killed, being too close to the blast.

While it was a shock, they needed to move forward. Running to the door at the right end of the hallway. Taking quick right again at the end, they finally make it to the bridge.

"Captain Keyes is waiting for you, sir!" The soldier said to them.

Six waited for a second. "What's your name soldier?"

"Private First Class Chips Dubbo sir." He exclaimed, a bit surprised that Six even asked.

Six nodded. "Keep it up Private. We'll help you fight them off."

It seemed like a weight was lifted off the Private's shoulders. Six didn't know why he felt the urge to tell him that. Give him some kind of hope maybe?

Six decided to think on it more as they walked onto the bridge. Several monitors build into the walls of the bridge. A viewing platform at the far end, with a walkway going down a few steps there as well. The main view screen sat in the middle of the room with a projection of a map of the area they were in. The planet near them, as well as some ring sitting in the middle of it on one side, and a readout of the ships status on the other side, as well as readouts of several Covenant ships nearby.

Looking over it was the Captain himself. Both approached and the Chief addressed him.

"Captain Keyes." He said, the first words Six had heard him say.

The Captain turned to face them, taking a turn to shake both their hands. "Good to see the both of you. Things aren't going well. Cortana did her best, but we never really had a chance." Keyes explained.

Cortana's avatar appeared on the holotank nearby. ""A dozen Covenant superior battleships against a single _Halcyon_-class Cruiser. With those odds, I'm content with three - make that _four_ kills." She calculated. Cortana turned to look at the Spartans. "Sleep well?"

"No thanks to your driving, yes." Chief stated.

Cortana smiled at the statement. "So you _did_ miss me."

Six noticed how the two knew each other. They must have known the other long before he ever met the A.I.

The ship violently shook suddenly, knocking everyone off balance, Keyes grabbing to pedestal for support. "Report!" He exclaimed.

"It must have been one of their boarding parties! I'd guess an antimatter charge!" Cortana surmised.

"Ma'am! Fire control to the main cannon is offline!" The Fire Control Officer called out.

"Captain, the cannon was my last offensive option." Cortana explained.

"So the ship is done then." Six stated.

Six had never heard of a ship being taken so quickly. The Pillar of Autumn was doomed even before it left Reach. He wasn't sure if there was any hope of fighting back all the Covenant forces now.

"Alright then. I'm initiating Cole Protocol, Article 2. We're abandoning the _Autumn_. That means you too, Cortana." Keyes announced with regret.

"While you do what, go down with the ship?" Cortana inquired.

"In a manner of speaking. The object we found, I'm going to try and land the _Autumn_ on it." Keyes explained as he looked over the main view screen with his pipe in hand.

"With all due respect, sir, this war has _enough dead heroes_." Cortana emphasized.

While Six did agree with her, there didn't seem to be many options out of this.

Keyes looked over to the A.I. "I appreciate your concern, Cortana, but it's not up to me. Protocol is clear. Destruction or capture of a shipboard AI is absolutely unacceptable, that means you're leaving the ship. Lock in a selection of emergency landing zones, upload them to my neural lace, and then sort yourself for a hard transfer."

"Aye aye, sir." Cortana reluctantly agreed, and with that she disappeared.

"...which is where you two come in. Get Cortana off this ship. Keep her safe from the enemy. If they capture her, they'll learn everything. Force deployment, weapons research... _Earth_." Keyes told them.

"I understand." Chief agreed, nodding. Six nodded as well.

Cortana reappeared. "The _Autumn_ will continue evasive maneuvers until you initiate a landing sequence. Not that you'll listen, but I'd suggest letting my subroutines handle the final approach." She explained.

"Excellent work, Cortana. Thank you. Are you ready?" Keyes asked.

She took a long look around the bridge, possibly the last time she would see it. With a sigh, she finally answered. "Yank me."

Keyes pressed some of the buttons on the bottom of the main view screen, then walked over and used the keypad on the holotank. With that done, he pulled a data chip out of it.

"Good luck, Master Chief. You too Lieutenant." Keyes said, then handed the chip to Chief.

He took the chip and slid it into the back of his helmet. "Hmm...your architecture isn't much different from the _Autumn's_..." She uttered.

"Don't get any funny ideas." Chief warned.

Six heard a voice come through his helmet. "I can communicate with you as well Noble Six. You got me to the Pillar of Autumn, I hope you can get me off it." Cortana remarked.

"I'll make sure of it." Six put simply.

Before the Spartans left, Keyes handed the Master Chief his pistol, a M6D Magnum Sidearm. Different from the pistol Six carried, which was an M6G. That pistol could also carry 12 rounds, more than the rounds that the M6G could carry as well, which was 8.

"I don't keep it loaded, son. You'll have to find ammo as you go." Keyes explained.

With a weapon in hand, both Spartans nodded, and took their leave. Heading back out to the main entrance, they took the exit on the right side instead of the left that they came from.

Come out the door on the right, the blast door was closed, but on the left path, they surprised three Grunts, two wearing orange armor while the third wore red, all carrying plasma pistols.

All three jumping a bit, The Chief shot all three in the head with one shot each, taking them down.

Six knew all Spartans were good, and was glad to have one by his side again, taking down enemies quickly was how they would get off the ship fast. Both moved to a door at the far right. It appeared to lead to the mess hall of the ship.

In the background, announcements were now being made by the Captain himself, since Cortana was out of the ships systems.

Laying at the door entrance was a dead marine, and ahead was two more holding off more Covenant forces.

"Those Marines could use some help, you two! Do what you do best!" Cortana urged.

The Master Chief quickly picked up the downed marines Assault Rifle, an MA5B version. Having more of a shell then a skeletal like appearance of the version Six used on Reach, but it still had the built-in ammunition indicator and magnetic compass. Only other difference was it carried 60 rounds instead of 32.

Chief reloaded the weapon, and fired on the Covenant, consisting of two Grunts in orange and an Elite in blue.

It didn't take long to do them in, as the door behind the enemy opened to reveal three more marines, all three from both sides quickly overwhelming their shields and killing them.

On the far right side of the mess hall, more Covenant entered through the doors.

All the Marines and the Chief fired on them, taking cover behind the benches.

The Chief then moved closer to get more hits in and finish them faster. Running between benches, he got close enough to take out the Grunts, but the one Elite with them fired close enough that he wore down the Chief's shields.

Having enough of sitting by, Six ran up and charged the Elite, grabbing his pistol and using one shot in the throat to kill it.

"Keep your head down! There's two of us in here now, remember?" Cortana tried desperately to remind the Master Chief.

"She's right. I'll lead, keep you both safe." Noble Six agreed.

The Chief nodded. "Alright, I'll cover you."

Noble Six looked to the soldiers. "I need another weapon."

One of the soldiers threw him their Assault Rifle, grabbing for a shotgun on their back as a replacement. As the Spartan's went on, the soldiers stayed to secure the area, and hopefully find a way off the ship. Both reloaded their weapons.

Noble Six took the door on the right side of the mess hall area they were on. The hall had panels lying on the floor, and barricades thrown from their placement. At the left side was some more Grunt's and an Elite. They quickly noticed and fired on them.

Both Spartan's fired back. Six took out the Grunt's relatively quick, and the Chief fired on the Elite. Once his shields were down, both fired on it to kill the Covenant troop. As they came to another door on the left side, a barricade in front of them seemed to have a Grunt hiding behind it. The Chief took out his pistol and shot it, and they moved onto the new path.

The steel corridors all blended together, taking any turn they had to keep moving. The Captain still announcing overhead, they came out from another hall and saw an elite facing away from them. The lone Elite was firing back on a small group of marines.

Noble Six ran up to him, grabbing his normal knife. The Spartan sliced the Elite's legs, then stabbed him in the back of the head, and pulled the Elite to the ground.

The Spartans ran to the marines, reloading their assault rifles as they did. As soon as they reached them, the ship began shaking violently again. It shook for a few seconds before one final surge, along with what sounds like an explosion in the distance.

"What the hell? Did something just hit us?" One of the marines cried out in surprise.

"Move it! Back to the airlock!" Another called out.

The Chief and Six followed the marines to the left hallway, then taking a right turn to see the airlock. Two more marines stood guard by one of the doors, but were thrown forward by an explosion that opened the doorway, killing the two. Covenant forces began pouring out of the airlock, causing the remaining marines and the two Spartans to open fire.

Most of the Grunts fell quickly, but the two Elites that came out swiftly moved around the area, firing their Plasma Rifles at the enemies. Before they could take anyone out, both Spartans ran to them, firing their weapons to wear down the Elites shields. While this did leave them open, as soon as they were right up to them, the shields went off, and both hit the Elites with the butt of their assault rifles before they had a chance to attack. The Chief and Six's shields themselves were almost taken out, but they did this attack in only a few seconds.

Both looked to the door they came from, slowly walking in. Where the pod for the ship should be, was instead a Covenant boarding vessel.

"Covenant boarding craft." Six stated.

"They're using _our_ lifeboat airlocks to attach their boarding craft. We go out and they come in! Clever bastards..." Cortana rambled.

Both exited, continuing down the hall, as all the pods of this area were gone, needing to find another way off.

"Go on ahead, Spartans. We'll secure this airlock." One of the Marines called to them, staying behind.

Walking around another corner, they saw an open door, the lights in the hall off. Standing in it was a lone Elite and Grunt. Not wanting to waste time, both fired on the Covenant. As normal, all the Grunt fell quickly, and the combined fire from the Spartans took down the Elite as well. The two downed enemies barely had a chance to fire back.

Proceeding in, the only sources of light was some electric sparks and the red alarm lights. Taking a right at the end of the hall, the lights seemed to be working from there on.

"Have you noticed how the only Covenant that's come aboard are Grunts and Elites?" Six said wondered.

"They're probably trying to use as little of their forces as possible. They can still overwhelm us given enough time, they've done this much already." Cortana guessed.

After turning left they both saw a barricade set up at the end of the hall, a trio of marines trying to hold back Covenant forces on the other side. Racing to them, they finally noticed the two Spartans. Both reloaded their weapons before reaching them.

"We're taking fire. We could use a hand!" One asked, almost desperately.

The enemy group was of four Grunts, three orange, one red, and an Elite leading them. Master Chief pulled out his pistol and began shooting the Grunt's down, keeping cover from their plasma fire. The Elite and one of the Grunts retreated to a side hallway. Not wanting to leave the threat, the two Spartans raced back down the hall they came from, as the hallway connected to another path they didn't take. A dead marine lay in the intersecting hall, as the two caught the Covenant troops by surprise. Gunning the Elite down first, then shooting the grunt before it ran away.

Master Chief and Six reloaded their weapons again, being prepared for the next fight.

Going the way that Covenant came from, they came to the open hall, one of the metal support pillars that jutted sideways to the left, like many that were littered around the ship, down the hall. Coming down it however was another squad of Covenant, again led by an Elite with four Grunts, like that last one.

Six covered them with some fire as they retreated to the side hall, using it for cover. Six actually managing to get one of the Grunts while he did. The marines proceeding to fire at the new threat from the barricade. Six reloaded his rifle while Chief went up and fired again, taking down two of the Grunts with his pistol. The marines took down the last and started focusing on the Elite, which was using the pillar for cover.

As Chief reloaded his pistol and switched to his rifle, Six ran forward to finish the Elite. The combined fire finishing its shields, Six ending it by hitting it with his gun.

Going down the way the enemies came from, they found a side path with three more Grunts. Upon seeing them, they went into a panic, allowing the Spartans to gun them down.

Running down the hall, the intersecting pathways began to feel like a maze. Six wondering if they were even getting anywhere.

One of the paths they ran past had a dead marine, and an explosion went off at the end of it. The path after that had two retreating marines, at the end another Elite and Grunt, a dead one nearby.

Shooting down the Grunt, all the focused fire on the Elite killed it in quick succession. Everyone reloaded after that.

Running forward and finding a hall out of the maze, they found another small squad of Covenant. Using one of the nearby barricades as cover, Six took down the two Grunts and Chief tried hitting the Elite, but it used one of the pillars for cover.

Both ran forward to both sides of it, not giving the Elite anywhere to run, gunning it down. Moving around the corner, they actually found another airlock, but also more Covenant, which began firing on them, getting a few shots in before the two used containers as cover.

"They must have just boarded." Cortana surmised.

Both reloaded their rifles. Once the fire stopped, they came out to open fire on the alien forces. Killing the few Grunts and running forward to overwhelm the Elite. It's shields dropping, Chief hit it with his rifle, the alien giving off a cry as it died.

Going to the airlock, they noticed that in the hall was one of the portable shields the Covenant use. Taking a few seconds to reload, they knew they couldn't take this way out of the ship

At another dead end, they continued to the end of the hall and turned the left corner. The lights were off ahead, and fire seemed to be going on several of the storage containers.

The way out was a half shut blast door, a dropped container holding it open. On the other side, a crewmen lay nearby, dead, with a pistol nearby. As sad as it was, the Chief took the spare ammo, as they would need it.

Up ahead, they saw an Elite and two Grunts overwhelming two more crewmen. The Spartan's ran forward to help, shooting the Grunts down. Chief pulled out his pistol and got up close enough to melee the alien, not having much effect due to the shields. The Elite almost melee Chief back, but he managed to back off in time. Six used the rest of his clip to wear it down enough to kill it.

One halls on both sides, more Covenant came out, three Grunts and an Elite. Back to back, Chief gunned the Grunts on his side with his pistol, while Six took down the grunt and wore down the Elites shields. The constant fire pushed the Spartan's shields to their limits, but Chief turned, switched to his rifle and helped finish it.

Taking a minute to catch their breath, the overwhelming odds became more clear. The Spartan's were made to deal with impossible odds, but just the two of them alone wouldn't be enough to save the ship, or the entire crew for that matter, as much as they could try.

Their shields recharged, and they took the left path. Following path after path, they came to a large open area of the ship with two levels, a set of divided stairs in the middle. It the closest thing to a change of scenery they had.

"Covenant! On the landing above us!" Cortana announced.

Up above on the ledge, several enemies began firing. It was then that the two noticed marines on the bottom level using the central staircase as cover.

One of the Elites seeming in the open, Chief pulled out his pistol used the zoom, and with accurate shots, wore down its shields. It tried to find better cover, but he got one last shot on its head, killing it.

At the left side of the room, one of the blast doors began opening, two Grunt's behind it. Six noticed them first, and ran over to shoot them through the opening blast doors before they had a chance to join the fight.

Chief and the marines meanwhile managed to kill the Grunts in in sight and ascended to the midsection of the stairs, another enemy squad to the right. Chief ran up, switching to his rifle, and mowed down the Grunts. Shooting at another Elite, he got close and melee'd it, actually knocking it off the ledge. Six and the marines finished it, and moved up.

"Is there any life pods left?" Six asked the marines.

"There's an airlock down the hall here, we were just heading there." One of the marines answered.

"Let's go." Six stated.

Going down the hall, turning the left corner, more Grunts and an Elite were seen at the end. A few dead marines and a barricade standing between them.

Firing on them, they scared the Grunts, letting them get shot down easily. As always, the Elite was stubborn to go down, but with everyone firing they finished it.

Taking another left, the lights were again off in the corridor, but could see the glow of plasma at the end, seeming like Grunt's due to how low to the ground they were. Not worrying, they fired and mowed them down as they continued, killing about four or so.

Turning right, at the end was a lone Elite standing behind a placed energy shield. Shooting at it from all angles, they forced it from its hiding place. Six focused fire on it while Chief ran forward and killed it by hitting it with his rifle. Both Spartans reloaded again as they turned left.

They notice the next few corridor walls had windows, allowing them to see into space, the dull orange colored planet outside in view.

"Cortana, where exactly are we?" Six asked as they moved.

"We are currently in the Soell system. The planet you're seeing is Threshold, the largest of the planets it this system." Cortana answered.

Before he could question her further, the next turned showed another airlock. They arrived to late however, as all three lifepods launched.

"The lifepods are launching! We should hurry." Cortana said, the pods launching with pulse lasers bursting all around the airlocks.

Looking out one of the heavy glass doors, they saw Plasma torpedoes continued to hit the hull. The third lifepod is hit by enemy fire and explodes while the other two make it away

The airlock had many dead crewman, unable to make it to the pods. Grabbing spare ammo, they saw up ahead three Grunts come around. Quickly opening fire on them, they were taken down before they could fire back.

"The Covenant are destroying the lifepods...they really don't want us on that ring." Cortana stated.

Moving forward a bit more, they saw came to a dead end. Back a ways, blast doors begin closing leaving the surviving Marines behind the door.

"Warning! Blast doors closing!" Cortana announced. "We'll have to use the ship's maintenance access ways. Follow the NAV point, it will lead you to an opening."

A point came to the helmet, by the dead end was a small door. Chief went in first, followed by Six. The dark halls were cramped, but still had enough space for them to move, given their armor. Chief turned on a light on his helmet.

Passing through maintenance access seemed like more of a maze than the normal halls of the ship. Spartans didn't feel frightened by much of anything, but being in these halls after so long could possibly disorient someone. It reminded Six of his old days of tracking Insurrection groups, going through dark places was the only way to outdo your enemy, and he took advantage of that. It was no different when fighting the Covenant.

While they explored the access ways, they turned a corner, and found two Grunts. Grabbing his pistol, Chief shot them in the head.

"Must have gotten lost in here." Six stated.

Moving forward a bit more they found an exit, but were stopped by Cortana. "I'm detecting Covenant movement outside the access ways. Activating motion tracker. Let's find a safe exit."

The motion tracker appeared on the lower left corner of their visors, allowing them to see nearby enemies.

Backtracking quite a few times, they looked for a safe exit out of there. After more exploring, they came to what appeared to be the fourth door they have found. "Motion tracker shows all clear." Cortana assured.

Coming out to a dark hallway, at the left corner was a door that was stuck half open.

"Wait. We need to get through that door, but it's been damaged by an explosion. Analyzing... The door's control mechanism is offline, but it's taken a lot of damage. You should be able to bash it open with the butt of your weapon." Cortana explained.

Getting out his rifle, with his enhanced strength, Chief bashed in the door with one strike.

Coming across a lone Grunt after turning the corner, Six quickly but quietly approached it. Hitting it in the right shoulder first, then player grabbing it by the neck and breaking it.

Going through the halls so as to avoid any Covenant they saw while exploring the access tunnels, they came to an old area they had been to before.

The Spartans found the way to the viewing platform of cold storage, the pods they were in before below them. Down there were also three Elites, examining the area.

"It looks like the Covenant wanted to catch you napping." Cortana stated.

The three spotted them, trying to fire, but were stopped by the thick glass. Frustrated by it, they left the room.

By the control panel, the dead Marcus lay. Six looked down to see that he was reaching for a picture of a woman. Six picked it up, looking at the back to see the name "Ellen", his wife.

Six put it in his hand, and got up. For the first time in a long time, Six felt sadness. Sad that this man could never see his wife again, along with all the others who could never see their families.

Chief put his hand on Six's shoulder. "We need to keep moving." He put simply.

Because of how focused Spartans were, it would seem disrespectful to the dead, but Six knew that he was telling him that they would make the Covenant pay.

Moving out the left exit and running down the hall, they come to a split path, to the right, three Grunts, and in front of them an Elite. All noticed them immediately, but before they could engage, an explosion came from the front hall, killing the Elite. Another came from the side, killing all the Grunts.

Wreckage and fire began littering the hall.

"The damage to the superstructure is extensive... I don't know how much more abuse the _Autumn_ can take." Cortana wonders.

"We need to leave." Six added.

At the edge of the fire was another access way. Running into it to escape the explosions, they followed one of the few available paths.

It didn't take them long to exit, but came out into another fight. Marines holding back a lone Elite with a small army of Grunts. Grabbing their rifles, they assisted in helping the Marines take down the enemy forces.

Gunning down all the Grunts with little effort, the combined fire killed the Elite. Running forward, a red Grunt came from the right path. Chief shot it with his pistol, and both see the path was a dead end, so took the left.

More Grunts were there to greet them, shooting them down as they ran. Getting past the pillars and containers, they turned the left corner to see another airlock, with a red Elite, one that was higher than the normal blues and many more Grunts. A barricade separated them, but they knew they had to get there, so quickly opened fire.

All forces fired on each other. The marines and Spartans used the barricades for cover, reloading their weapons and firing again.

The Spartans focused on the Elite, trying to wear down its shields, while keeping up with its movements. Chief pulled out his pistol again and with careful aim, hit it in the head. It shields being at their lowest, it broke them and killed it. The loss of their leader panicked the Grunts, and they were all mowed down without a fight.

"There's one last lifeboat! Quickly, get aboard before it launches!" Cortana hurried. With that over, the Spartan's rushed to the pod.

One of the last marines headed to the airlock, but was thrown to the ground by an explosion.

"Oh no, oh no!" He cried, thinking he was going to die.

He looked behind himself to see the Spartan's approaching, Chief picking him up and throwing him into the lifepod. Six ran inside as the marine crawled to his feet.

"Now would be a _very_ good time to leave!" Cortana reminded.

Chief looked back briefly, sweeping the area with his rifle to make sure there were no more enemies, and then runs inside as well. Him and Six grab a handhold on the ceiling, the marine he threw sitting in the last open seat, the safety harness lowering to keep him in place. Not including the Spartans, there were now eight marines and the pilot of the pod.

"Punch it." Chief told the pilot.

"Aye aye, sir!" The pilot, who happened to be female, looked back as she responded, and lowered her eye visor. With that, the hatch sealed and the pod launched.

"We're disengaged. Goin' for minimum safe distance." The pilot said as they flew away from the Pillar of Autumn.

"We're gonna make it, aren't we, sir? I don't wanna die out here!" The marine sitting closest to Chief asked, scared.

Chief patted him on the shoulder, reassuring him.

"Look!" Cortana exclaimed.

Six and Chief walked up to the pilots seat, Chief climbing up to get a better view out the right side, while Six stayed low, looking out the left.

In view came the ring that the Autumn found, the pod dropping towards it.

"What _is_ that thing, Lieutenant?" The scared marine asked.

"Hell if I know, but we're landin' on it!" The pilot answered.

"The _Autumn_! She's been hit!" Called out the one marine Chief threw before.

Chief looked back and ran to the back of the pod, looking out to see the Autumn racing towards them.

"I knew it! The _Autumn_'s accelerating. Keyes is going in manually!" Cortana stated.

It accelerated further, flying past the pods starboard side. Multiple plasma torpedoes still striking it, making more fires on the surface of the ship.

"Heads up, everyone, this is it! We're entering the ring's atmosphere in five!" The pilot announced. The bottom of the pod becoming ablaze due to the approach.

"Sure you wouldn't rather take a seat?" Cortana urged.

"We'll be fine." Chief assured. He gripped the sides of the lifeboat, bending his knees a bit to stay standing. Six followed his example by doing the same.

"If I still had fingers, they'd be crossed..." Cortana said.

Six knew, that whatever was about to happen, the Autumn was only the beginning. The real battle was about to begin as soon as they landed.

**And done, I hope it this was decent. I tried going off the game design, while adding minor narrative touches. If you think it needs work, let me know, and I'll try to improve future chapters.**


End file.
